Indiana Rangers

Last updated

Indiana Rangers
Active1807–1809
1811
1812–1815
Disbanded1809 (first time)
1811 (second time)
June, 1815 (third time)
CountryFlag of the United States (1795-1818).svg  United States
AllegianceFlag of the United States (1795-1818).svg  United States
Indiana Territory
Branch Indiana Territorial Militia
Type Infantry (1807–1809, 1811, 1812–1815)
Dragoons (1812–1815)
RoleProtect Indiana Territory from Indian attacks
Size3 divisions (1807–1809):
1st Division
2nd Division
3rd Division

6 companies (1812–1815)

  • (divisions and companies total troops were at their highest approximately 400 men)
Part ofTerritorial Governor William Henry Harrison
Garrison/HQ Cuzco, Indiana Territory
Vincennes, Indiana Territory
Fort Vallonia, Indiana Territory
EquipmentRifle
musket
scalping knife
tomahawk
sword
Engagements Battle of Tippecanoe (1811)
War of 1812
Commanders
Current
commander
Major John Tipton
Ceremonial chiefCaptain William Hargrove
Colonel of
the Regiment
Captain James Bigger

The Indiana Rangers, also known as the Indiana Territorial Mounted Rangers, were a mounted militia formed in 1807 and operated in the early part of the 19th century to defend settlers in Indiana Territory from attacks by Native Americans. The rangers were present at the Battle of Tippecanoe, and served as auxiliaries to the army during the War of 1812. At the peak of their activities they numbered over 400 men.

Contents

History

Origins

First formation of Rangers

In 1807, the Larkins family was travelling along the Buffalo Trace when they were attacked by a band of Native Americans. The father was killed, and Mrs. Larkins and her five children were taken into captivity. [1] The incident sparked outcries for better protection along the route, and Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison organized the Rangers to provide a fast response to attacks, primarily as a deterrent to random American Indian raids. [2] The Rangers were modeled on the mounted troops used by General Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. [3] The primary objective of the Rangers was to safeguard the Buffalo Trace, the main transportation route between Louisville, Kentucky and the Indiana Territory's capital of Vincennes, Indiana (and Illinois Territory), starting on April 20, 1807. [3] [4]

Beginning of Ranger Operations

The first Indiana Rangers who patrolled the road in 1807 did so on foot. The Rangers had three divisions: Captain William Hargrove's 1st Division patrolled from the Wabash River to French Lick. The 2nd Division patrolled from French Lick to the Falls of the Ohio. One of their bases was at Cuzco, Indiana. [5] The 3rd Division secured an area East along the Ohio River to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, on the Ohio border. [2] All Rangers were paid $1 per day, and were required to supply their own horse, ammunition, tomahawk, a large and small knife, and a leather belt. [2]

Final operations and disbandment

Although the mounted militia units lacked uniformity, the men—and sometimes women [3] —were well trained. In keeping with their mission, the Indiana Rangers were involved in numerous incidents involving Native Americans. Native Americans and white settlers were considered to be at peace during this time, and the early Rangers were so effective that clashes between Native Americans and white settlers effectively ended. Harrison disbanded the Indiana Rangers in 1809. [6]

War of 1812

Reformation of the Indiana Rangers

As tensions between U.S. settlers and Native Americans increased, the Indiana Rangers were reactivated. Two Rangers companies were raised and stationed in Vincennes, Indiana. [6] Prior to the War of 1812, an Indiana Rangers detachment under Captain William Hargrove detained a British subject they believed was supporting indigenous resistance to white American settlers in Indiana. [7] Resistance to U.S. colonization in the Indiana Territory by Native Americans became more frequent after the outbreak of war, which led to attacks such as the Pigeon Roost raid. During the war, the Rangers were used to augment larger American armies.

Battle of Wild Cat Creek

General Samuel Hopkins utilized the Rangers in his Second Tippecanoe Campaign (1812), where several were killed at the Battle of Wild Cat Creek.

Ambushing Shawnee Native Americans at the Battle of Tipton’s Island

In April 1813, during the War of 1812, a Shawnee war party killed two white settlers eight miles from Fort Vallonia. The war party continued towards the fort, killing another settler and wounding three more. [8] The Shawnee then put some distance between themselves and the fort, but were soon pursued by 30 Indiana Rangers under Major John Tipton known as "Corydon's Yellow Jackets". [9]

The Shawnee crossed the flooded Driftwood River and, thinking they had lost their pursuers, set up camp on an island in the east fork of the White River, just northeast of modern day Seymour. One of Tipton's scouts located the trail, however, and the rangers cautiously approached the river. Major Tipton ordered the rangers to maintain absolute silence, and tied one ranger to a tree when he kept talking. [10] The Rangers took ambush positions along the bank of the river and opened fire. The Shawnee were taken by surprise, but returned fire for about half an hour. Few casualties were suffered due to the firing distance across the river and the shelter provided by the wooded island. [11] One Shawnee was killed and several were wounded, but three Shawnees drowned when they tried to swim across the flooded White River.

The Rangers could not pursue the Shawnee across the river, so they returned to Fort Vallonia. There was a victory celebration, but as details of the skirmish emerged, it was determined to be a small engagement against a war party that managed to escape. "Tipton's Island" became a term of ridicule. [12]

Joseph Bartholomew’s Raid

On June 11, 1813, Indiana General Joseph Bartholomew led a force of 137 Rangers to patrol the White River. Bartholomew and his Rangers raided the Native American Delaware villages destroying 1000 bushels of corn, and capturing 3 horses. No Native Americans were seen during the raid, [13] until they found and attacked two Native Americans at a campfire. One was killed and the other escaped, after critically wounding a Ranger. The Rangers withdrew to Fort Vallonia. The wounded ranger, a man named Hays, was brought back to the fort and later died from his wounds. [14]

Colonel William Russell’s Raid

Colonel William Russell used the Rangers to supplement his infantry in the 1812 Peoria War.

That July, Rangers under General Bartholomew supplemented Colonel Russell's mounted force, which traveled 500 miles through the Indiana territory destroying hostile Indian villages. The Americans had located an Indian stockade fort in Miami County Indiana and he burned it to the ground. Russell and his mounted raiders destroyed at least 5 enemy village bases. This raid lasted for about one month. After completing the raid, Russell and his fellow mounted raiders withdrew safely back to Fort Harrison. No Native Americans were seen during the expedition, [13] and no one in Russell's force was lost in the campaign. [15] [16] [17] [18]

Further Formations of Rangers and final disbandment

In 1813, the federal government authorized an additional four Ranger companies to secure Indiana Territory. [6] The new companies consisted of 100 men each, and as before, they armed and equipped themselves. The officers of the rangers were paid the same as those regular army officers of the same rank. Those with horses were paid a dollar a day, and those without horses were paid 75 cents a day. [19] Following the end of the War of 1812, the Indiana Rangers were discharged from military service in June, 1815.

Legacy

People

John Tipton was a Major with the Indiana Rangers. Johntiptonindiana.jpg
John Tipton was a Major with the Indiana Rangers.

One of the new ranger companies authorized in 1813 was commanded by Captain James Bigger, a veteran of the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, [20] although he later had to go to court for recognition of his services with the Rangers. [21] Another of the new rangers was John Ketcham, who built Ketcham's Fort and would later become a judge.

John Tipton served as a major in command of two companies of rangers at Fort Vallonia during the War of 1812. He would later become a United States senator, and is the namesake of Tipton and Tipton County, Indiana.

Organizations

The Indiana Rangers inspired the creation of the more famous Texas Rangers. [22]

The 151st Infantry Regiment traces its heritage to the pre-statehood Indiana Rangers. [23] [24] The motto of the regiment, "Wide Awake – Wide Awake!" was earned at the Battle of Tippecanoe. [23] [25] Delta Company (Ranger) was the only National Guard Infantry unit to serve intact in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and called itself the Indiana Rangers. [23] [26]

See also

Notes

  1. Wilson, p. 235.
  2. 1 2 3 Allison, p. 241.
  3. 1 2 3 "Indiana Territorial Mounted Rangers: Introduction". 2007. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2009.
  4. Robinson p. 375.
  5. Dean, p. 375.
  6. 1 2 3 Allison, p. 242.
  7. Dean, p. 377.
  8. Allison, 249
  9. Carmony, Donald F. (1916). "Section 15". Indiana Magazine of History. Indiana University, Dept. of History.
  10. Allison, 250
  11. Allison, 251
  12. 1 2 Heighway, David. "Warfare in the Wilderness". Hamilton East Public Library. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  13. "The United States Cavalry: An Illustrated History, 1776-1944" by Gregory J. W. Urwin pg. 45.
  14. William Henry Harrison Papers: Series 1, General Correspondence, 1734-1939; 1734-1813, Aug.
  15. "Indiana to 1816: The Colonial Period" by John D. Barnhart pg. 405.
  16. "A History of Indiana, from Its Earliest Exploration by Europeans to the Close of the Territorial Government, in 1816: Comprehending a History of the Territory of the U. S. Northwest of the River" by John Brown Dillon pg. 525-527.
  17. "Fort Vallonia". Encyclopedia of Things. Discover INDIANA. April 30, 2005. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  18. Barr, p. 316.
  19. Indiana State Teachers Association-History Section (1914). Readings in Indiana History. Indiana University. p.  120.
  20. "Depostion of James Bigger". April 6, 1813. Retrieved January 22, 2009.
  21. Ferguson, Rich (March 3, 2008). "Indianapolis Tonight". WIBC. Retrieved January 15, 2009.[ dead link ]
  22. 1 2 3 1st Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment "Warhawks" at globalsecurity.org. Website accessed November 24, 2009.
  23. Indiana National Guard – Our History Archived February 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine . Website accessed November 28, 2009.
  24. "Indiana Rangers". US Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  25. Ramey, Timothy. "History of The Indiana Rangers". Ranger151.com. Retrieved January 20, 2009.

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Tippecanoe</span> 1811 battle of Tecumsehs War

The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811, in Battle Ground, Indiana, between American forces led by then Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and tribal forces associated with Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa, leaders of a confederacy of various tribes who opposed European-American settlement of the American frontier. As tensions and violence increased, Governor Harrison marched with an army of about 1,000 men to attack the confederacy's headquarters at Prophetstown, near the confluence of the Tippecanoe River and the Wabash River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tecumseh</span> Shawnee Native American military leader

Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and promoting intertribal unity. Even though his efforts to unite Native Americans ended with his death in the War of 1812, he became an iconic folk hero in American, Indigenous, and Canadian popular history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tecumseh's War</span> 1810–1813 conflict between the US and Tecumsehs Confederacy

Tecumseh's War or Tecumseh's Rebellion was a conflict between the United States and Tecumseh's confederacy, led by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh in the Indiana Territory. Although the war is often considered to have climaxed with William Henry Harrison's victory at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, Tecumseh's War essentially continued into the War of 1812 and is frequently considered a part of that larger struggle. The war lasted for two more years, until 1813, when Tecumseh and his second-in-command, Roundhead, died fighting Harrison's Army of the Northwest at the Battle of Moraviantown in Upper Canada, near present-day Chatham, Ontario, and his confederacy disintegrated. Tecumseh's War is viewed by some academic historians as the final conflict of a longer-term military struggle for control of the Great Lakes region of North America, encompassing a number of wars over several generations, referred to as the Sixty Years' War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenskwatawa</span> Native American leader (1775–1836)

Tenskwatawa was a Native American religious and political leader of the Shawnee tribe, known as the Prophet or the Shawnee Prophet. He was a younger brother of Tecumseh, a leader of the Shawnee. In his early years Tenskwatawa was given the name Lalawethika, but he changed it around 1805 and transformed himself from a hapless, alcoholic youth into an influential spiritual leader. Tenskwatawa denounced the Americans, calling them the offspring of the Evil Spirit, and led a purification movement that promoted unity among the Indigenous peoples of North America, rejected acculturation to the American way of life, and encouraged his followers to pursue traditional ways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Fort Wayne</span> Battle of the War of 1812

The siege of Fort Wayne took place from September 5 – September 12, 1812, during the War of 1812. The stand-off occurred in the modern city of Fort Wayne, Indiana between the U.S. military garrison at Fort Wayne and a combined force of Potawatomi and Miami forces. The conflict began when warriors under the Potawatomi chiefs, Winamac and Five Medals killed two members of the U.S. garrison. Over the next several days, the Potawatomi burned the buildings and crops of the fort's adjacent village, and launched assaults from outside the fort. Winamac withdrew on 12 September, ahead of reinforcements led by Major General William Henry Harrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Harrison, Indiana</span> War of 1812 era stockade located in the modern city of Terre Haute, Indiana

Fort Harrison was a War of 1812 era stockade constructed in Oct. 1811 on high ground overlooking the Wabash River on a portion of what is today the modern city of Terre Haute, Indiana, by forces under command of Gen. William Henry Harrison. It was a staging point for Harrison to encamp his forces just prior to the Battle of Tippecanoe a month later. The fort was the site of a famous battle in the War of 1812, the siege of Fort Harrison in Sept. 1812 that was the first significant victory for the U.S. in the war. The fort was abandoned in 1818 as the frontier moved westward.

Colonel William Russell III was a soldier, pioneer, and politician from Virginia and Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Tipton</span> American politician (1786–1839)

John Tipton was from Tennessee and became a farmer in Indiana; an officer in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, and veteran officer of the War of 1812, in which he reached the rank of Brigadier General; and politician. He was elected to the Indiana General Assembly in 1819, and in 1831 as US Senator from the state of Indiana, serving until 1838. He was appointed as US Indian Agent and was selected to lead the militia in removing Menominee's band of Potawatomie in 1838; they were relocated to Kansas, Indian Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois Territory in the War of 1812</span> Involvement of the Illinois Territory in the War of 1812

During the War of 1812, the Illinois Territory was the scene of fighting between Native Americans and United States soldiers and settlers. The Illinois Territory at that time included the areas of modern Illinois, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota and Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ketcham (Indiana surveyor)</span> American politician (1782-1865)

Colonel John Ketcham was an American surveyor, building contractor and judge.

Winamac was the name of a number of Potawatomi leaders and warriors beginning in the late 17th century. The name derives from a man named Wilamet, a Native American from an eastern tribe who in 1681 was appointed to serve as a liaison between New France and the natives of the Lake Michigan region. Wilamet was adopted by the Potawatomis, and his name, which meant "Catfish" in his native Eastern Algonquian language, was soon transformed into "Winamac", which means the same thing in the Potawatomi language. The Potawatomi version of the name has been spelled in a variety of ways, including Winnemac, Winamek, and Winnemeg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pigeon Roost State Historic Site</span> Site of an 1812 massacre of settlers by Native Americans in County Scott, Indiana, United States

Pigeon Roost State Historic Site is located between Scottsburg and Henryville, Indiana, United States. A one-lane road off U.S. Route 31 takes the visitor to the site of a village where Native Americans massacred 24 settlers shortly after the War of 1812 began.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Bartholomew (major general)</span> American militia general

Joseph Bartholomew was a general in the Indiana Militia and served in numerous military conflicts. He also worked as a farmer, hunter, trapper, self-taught surveyor, and politician. Bartholomew County, Indiana and the Bartholomew Trail were named after him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vallonia, Indiana</span> Census-designated place in Indiana, United States

Vallonia is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Driftwood and Brownstown townships, Jackson County, Indiana, United States. It was an 18th-century French settlement and 19th-century American frontier fortification known as Fort Vallonia. As of the 2010 census, Vallonia had a population of 336.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indiana in the War of 1812</span> Involvement of the Indiana Territory in the War of 1812

During the War of 1812, the Indiana Territory was the scene of numerous engagements which occurred as part of the conflict's western theater. Prior to the war's outbreak in 1812, settlers from the United States had been gradually colonizing the region, which led to increased tensions with local Native Americans and the outbreak of Tecumseh's War. In 1811, Tecumseh's confederacy, formed in response to encroachment by white American settlers, was defeated by U.S. forces at the Battle of Tippecanoe. After the conflict broke out, most Native Americans in the region joined forces with the British Empire and attacked American forces and settlers in concert with their British allies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Tipton's Island</span>

The Battle of Tipton's Island was an engagement between a Shawnee war party and Indiana militia under command of John Tipton in April 1813 on the White River near present-day Seymour, Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tecumseh's confederacy</span> 19th-century Native American confederation

Tecumseh's confederacy was a confederation of Native Americans in the Great Lakes region of North America which formed during the early 19th century around the teaching of Shawnee leader Tenskwatawa. The confederation grew over several years and came to include several thousand Native American warriors. Shawnee leader Tecumseh, the brother of Tenskwatawa, became the leader of the confederation as early as 1808. Together, they worked to unite the various tribes against colonizers from the United States who had been crossing the Appalachian Mountains and occupying their traditional homelands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Wild Cat Creek</span>

The Battle of Wild Cat Creek was the result of a November 1812 punitive expedition against Native American villages during the War of 1812. It has been nicknamed "Spur's Defeat", which is thought to refer to the spurs used by the soldiers to drive their horses away from the battle as quickly as possible. The campaign is sometimes referred to as the Second Battle of Tippecanoe.

United States Rangers were originally raised for Tecumseh's War, but they continued to serve against hostile Indians after the United States declaration of war against Great Britain. A total of 17 independent companies were authorized from Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. The Rangers were neither militia, nor regulars, but formed part of the war establishment of the United States as volunteers.